Naturally Occurring Biological Threats. Infectious disease threats do not respect borders. Urbanization, habitat encroachment, and increased and faster travel, coupled with weak health systems, increase the ability of infectious diseases to spread rapidly across the globe. Antimicrobial resistance, novel infectious diseases, and the resurgence and spread of once geographically limited infectious diseases can overwhelm response capacities and make outbreaks harder to control. An infectious disease outbreak—even in the most remote places of the world—could spread rapidly across oceans and continents, directly impacting the U.S. population and its health, security, and prosperity.
Deliberate and Accidental Biological Threats. The use of biological weapons or their proliferation by state or non-state actors presents a significant challenge to our national security, our population, our agriculture, and the environment. Multiple nations have pursued clandestine biological weapons programs and a number of terrorist groups have sought to acquire biological weapons. In many countries around the world, pathogens are stored in laboratories that lack appropriate biosecurity measures where they could be diverted by actors who wish to do harm. Similarly, some laboratories do not have appropriate biocontainment or biosafety protocols, which could lead to an outbreak through a laboratory acquired infection or if a pathogen is accidentally released into the environment. Biological material is ubiquitous and can self-propagate; pathogens are found all over the world—in the environment, animal reservoirs, humans, and laboratories. A natural outbreak can lead quickly to not only a public health crisis, but also a biosecurity vulnerability due to the thousands of clinical samples that are generated during an epidemic, which, if handled without appropriate biosecurity measures, could facilitate the development of a biological weapon.
Biological Risk Management
Biological risk management requires understanding and assessing biological risks, and taking steps to prepare for, prevent, and respond to them, regardless of whether they originate in the United States or abroad. It also requires shared international recognition that the risk is global to empower effective, collective mitigation. In our interconnected world, it is not if, but when, the next biological incident will occur.
As the biological threat continues to evolve, so must our biodefense capabilities. If all countries could prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease outbreaks at the local level, we can minimize the risk of global health emergencies, saving both lives and resources. Preventing acquisition of dangerous pathogens, equipment, and expertise for nefarious purposes, and maintaining the capability to rapidly control outbreaks in the event of a biological attack, are strategic interests of the United States. These must be strategic interests for partners around the world as well. The United States cannot carry the burden alone. Finally, as we reap the benefits from biotechnologies, we must also understand and consider the risks they may pose. The United States will pursue an efficient and coordinated biodefense enterprise to protect the American people.
Domestic action alone is insufficient to protect America’s health and security. The rapid globalization of science and technology and the interconnectedness of travel and trade necessitate a strong biodefense enterprise that has global reach to effectively prevent, detect, and respond to biological incidents. The United States Government works at home and abroad to ensure that the United States and its partners are protected from natural, accidental, or deliberate biological threats. While the desired outcomes at home and abroad are the same, the conditions and avenues available to achieve these outcomes can be very different. Internationally, our efforts to protect the United States and our partners include direct investment in sustainable, context-appropriate capacity building that leads to selfreliance. We will work with multilateral organizations, partner nations, private donors, and civil society to control disease outbreaks at their source by supporting the development and implementation of biodefense and health security capabilities, policies, and standards.
The United States has long been an innovation leader. Whether augmenting our ability to provide health care and protect the environment, or expanding our capacity for energy and agricultural production towards global sustainability, continued research and development in life sciences is essential for a brighter future for the American people. To ensure that the United States is poised to meet the evolving biological risk landscape, at a time when unparalleled advancement and innovation in the life sciences globally continue to transform our way of life, we are committed to promoting innovation throughout the national biodefense enterprise. We will promote innovative technologies and systems; encourage innovative technology communities and industry leaders to meet our targeted biodefense and health capacity needs; link stakeholders with new ideas, tools, and products; and pursue innovative approaches and partnerships to achieve, at home and abroad, the desired goals articulated in this National Biodefense Strategy.
Through the National Biodefense Strategy, the United States will use all appropriate means to assess, understand, prevent, prepare for, respond to, and recover from biological incidents— whatever their origin—that threaten national or economic security. The National Biodefense Strategy recognizes that a collaborative, multisectoral, and trans-disciplinary approach to the national biodefense enterprise is necessary to counter biological threats effectively and efficiently.
Assumptions
The evolving biological threat landscape requires a comprehensive approach, and the United States recognizes the following principles:
Biological Threats are Persistent. Pathogens have emerged and spread throughout history, and as new naturally occurring threats develop, the risk from them grows more acute as the world becomes more urbanized, travel increases, and habitats change. Separately, nation-states and terrorist groups have found value in pursuing biological weapons, and there can be no confidence that will change in the future. Advances in the life sciences will both reduce the technological hurdles to such weapons and expand the number of individuals with relevant skills to effectuate threats.
Biological Threats Originate from Multiple Sources. The United States will include, within the scope of biodefense, not just countering deliberate biological threats, but also the threats that stem from naturally occurring and accidental outbreaks. This approach will allow the United States Government to fully utilize, integrate, and coordinate the biodefense enterprise and ensure the most efficient use of all biodefense assets.
Infectious Diseases Do Not Respect Borders. An interconnected world increases the opportunity for pathogens to emerge and spread so that a disease threat anywhere is a disease threat everywhere. Infectious diseases travel without visas and cross borders indiscriminately; infected travelers may not manifest any symptoms. The United States Government will mitigate biological incidents both here in the United States and work with partners abroad because the United States cannot counter biological threats nationally without addressing them internationally. We will also seek to improve our ability to prevent the spread of infectious diseases to the United States through inbound travelers and goods. The Ebola outbreaks of 2014 and 2018 demonstrated that the United States Government must be prepared to act swiftly, and unilaterally if necessary, to respond to public health emergencies abroad if multilateral institutions and partners are not prepared to do so.
Multi-sectoral Cooperation is Critical for Prevention and Response. This strategy calls for engagement and cooperation across all levels of government, to include SLTT governments, as well as internationally. It involves partnership with multiple sectors, including the medical; public, animal, and plant health; emergency response; scientific and technical; law enforcement; industrial; academic; diplomatic; defense and security; intelligence; and nonproliferation and counterproliferation sectors, among others. Engagement with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the private sector